Indian boxer Nishant makes a winning start at Olympic Qualifier, Shiva loses

Busto Arsizio (Italy): World Championships bronze medallist Nishant Dev started his campaign at the 1st Olympic Boxing Qualifier with an exciting 3-1 win against British pugilist Lewis Richardson but the seasoned Shiva Thapa lost here on Wednesday.

Competing in the men's 71kg category, Nishant didn't take much time to settle in against the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Richardson and went into attacking mode from the word go, winning the first round 4-1.

The 23-year-old Indian became even more dominant in the second round with the help of his long reach and delivered some effective right hooks to win it 5-0.

He produced a controlled performance in the third round as well and avoided multiple attacks from his opponent while trying to protect his lead and ultimately won the bout with a split decision.

Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), however, went down to reigning world champion Uzbekistan's Ruslan Abdullaev.

Ruslan, living up to his reputation with his pinpointed punches, penetrated Shiva's defence multiple times which forced the Indian pugilist to go on the defensive from the start.

The defensive approach didn't last long as Abdullaev continued his attacking display before the referee stopped the contest in the first round.

Meanwhile, national champion Lakshya Chahar (80kg) also made an exit from the competition after losing against former Asian Championships silver medallist Iran's Gheshlaghi Meysam.

After going down 2-3 in the first round, Lakshya fought back well in the second and was looking good in the final round as well. However, the Iranian knocked him out with just 20 seconds remaining on the clock.

Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jaismine (60kg) also bowed out of the competition with a 0-5 loss against Japan's Ayaka Taguchi.

Later Wednesday night, youth world champion Ankushita Boro (66kg) will face Sonvico Emilie of France while national champion Sanjeet (92kg) will square off against Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan.

The first World Olympic Qualifier is hosting over 590 boxers and will offer a total of 49 quotas, including 28 for men and 21 for women, at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Between 45 to 51 boxers will qualify for the second World Qualification Tournament, to be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3.

India has already secured four quotas for Paris 2024 with Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) confirming their berths with impressive performances at the Asian Games.